A Happy Place

Just have to feel the sand between your toes.

I miss the second half of senior year so much because I didn't have a care in the world. It was probably the last time where I won't feel like I have to worry about anything past who I was going to prom with (Max), what I was going to wear (an overpriced dress), and where I was going to college (you already know!!). I hadn't been seriously stressed about anything for months and life was good. I was at the point where I didn't have a second thought about taking a week long break from school to go to California.

I had to.

My top college choice was actually the University of Southern California, and one day in about mid-March I was struck with the overwhelming desire to go visit. I had to at least see it before I turned it down (too expensive). I called my friend Beatrix - basically a genius who got accepted to USC a year early - and proposed my idea to her. We hadn't seen each other in months, and she was just as excited about me coming to stay with her as I was. Within 48 hours of having this idea to go to California, I had a plane ticket and a countdown until April.

Landing at LAX was such an exciting moment. I made it to California! I was ready for the next 5 days of adventure. Of course I visited the spectacular Griffith Observatory, the Santa Monica Pier, the Walk of Fame, and The Last Bookstore (a super cool bookstore/ gallery), but what I remember most fondly is the one evening Beatrix and I went on a food crawl in downtown LA. I'm tearing up a little as I write this because the food was just so good and I'm imagining it sitting in front of me right now and it feels too real... So now you may be wondering, what is this food that I'm drooling over right now?

Photo taken on our way up to the Observatory.

Heaven for book lovers like me.

Lovely artwork

Behind the door were more books!

We got off the subway in DTLA and just started walking. On our way down the street we passed a beautiful French restaurant cafe with an incredible display of macarons in the window. Naturally, we went in to buy some. (Just as incredible pastry case). It was here where I witnessed something terrible - a slightly imperfect yet still perfectly edible macaron being thrown in the *gasp* trash! I couldn't believe my eyes... but life must go on so we paid and moved on. Next up- boba.

I still have the box 

Boba is apparently what everyone in LA calls bubble tea, and although I found it weird at first, I decided they could call it whatever they wanted because it's delicious. We went to an interesting place called Boba 7 where they served alcoholic boba as well as non-alcoholic. Honestly, I would be a little bit unsure about trying some of the things on their menu, but you can see for yourself. I had the #bobatella with honey boba balls and I cried tears of joy. (There's a lot of tears being shed when it comes to food). We took our drinks to go and headed to get some real food.

Just... no words for the amazingness.

The LA Cafe is a popular place and I understand why, just look at what they offer. I had the lobster grilled cheese and we split a belgian waffle for dessert, because you can never have too much dessert. I never thought I'd have lobster or brie on my grilled cheese, but now that I have, it's hard to go back.

Lobster Grilled Cheese.

And to end the night on a high note, we got gelato. You can never go wrong with gelato.

I want to go back every time I think about being in California. Maybe for the food, but I'm sure there were other reasons. If I hadn't gone, I wouldn't have these amazing memories now, so don't be afraid to be spontaneous. Book a plane ticket to the other side of the country and eat a lot of food. Find reasons to be happy. Live your life and enjoy it.